LIT2 - Poetry - Tissue

Question 1

Who wrote Tissue? Give some context about the poem:

Answer 1

-Imtiaz Dharker

-interested in identity and multi-culturalism
-discusses the significance of paper in our lives and the power it has over us
-also describes the fragility of human life in comparison

Question 2

Give 5 quotes from Tissue:

Answer 2

-Paper thinned by age or touching
-If buildings were paper, I might…see how easily they fall away on a sigh, a shift in the direction of the wind
-Maps too. The sun shines through their borderlines
-Fine slips from grocery shops…might fly our lives like paper kites
-a grand design with living tissue, raise a structure never meant to last

Question 3

Paper thinned by age or touching

Answer 3

-extended metaphor of paper implies the fragility of human life, as it can be worn out by age
-soft verb “touching” highlights how even the slightest change to society could damage it, further conveying its weakness

Question 4

If buildings were paper (…sigh)

Answer 4

metaphor of paper buildings illustrates how society is weak and delicately balanced, considering how a “sigh” could make it fall

Question 5

(If buildings were paper, ) I might…see how easily they fall away on a sigh, a shift in the direction of the wind

Don’t analyse the part in brackets

Answer 5

-adverb “easily” demonstrates humanity’s vulnerability
-soft sibilance used to convey how a gentle breeze can have enormous power to change us
-“shift in…wind” could also show how society is easily influenced and moulded by our surroundings, in the same way that we can fold and tear paper as we please

Question 6

Maps too. The sun shines through their borderlines

Answer 6

-nature, portrayed with the lexical field of light, is seen to overcome humanity’s constraints of our borders and “shines through”
-reinforces our unimportance and transience in comparison to nature

Question 7

Fine slips from grocery shops…might fly our lives like paper kites

Answer 7

-the significance of money in society is flimsy just like the “fine slips” of paper
-however the simile reminds us of its power, conveying our dependence on money to direct our lives

Question 8

a grand design with living tissue, raise a structure never meant to last

Answer 8

-“grand design” and “tissue” connected by enjambment, connoting how life is incredibly complex and a grand structure
-also emphasises how life is transitory

Question 9

Explain the use of structure in Tissue:

Answer 9

-mainly constructed in unrhymed quatrains to represent the irregularity of life and flimsy nature of tissue
-enjambment and uneven rhythm also suggests the unsteady quality of human life

-final 1 line stanza (“turned into your skin”), emphasising the connection between paper and skin, showing the significance of human life